Champagne Toast Anyone?

I had to post this up because I haven't seen pictures that do this polish justice AT ALL. Even our Goddess of Nail Polish: Scrangie, didn't truly capture it's awesomesauceness.   I'm talking about Barielle's Jess's Champagne Toast.
This polish is simply tantalizing and I cannot stop looking at my nails. It's a lavender silver with tiny pink slivers of glitter. It's just amazing in it's simplicity and elegance. I love this polish...can you tell?

All the photos were taken under incandescent 12 volt light with the white balance on my camera set manually to capture true white. I have looked at these beside the color on my nails and this is true to form, though the second photo captures it best. I have to add, it looks textured in the photos, but it really isn't...this polish is smooth even before topcoat.

I think the polish looks a whole lot like the bottle color and I truly do love this one. Looks like my son will get one more ornament to add to his tree. :)

Remember to click so you can see all the detail (and my winter cuticles.)

On another note, I tried NailTek II and my nails are peeling more than ever before. Guess that is proof that everyone is different. Anyone want a couple of bottles of this stuff...one brand new and the other slightly used? I've honestly not had much luck with some of the stuff I've seen suggested on other blogs lately. Dermelect seems ok, but I don't get the stellar results that Scandalous or Bright Lights, Big Color have seen on their nails. I guess it's time for me to return to my old favorite...more on that soon.

Did you pick this one up? Did you like it or hate it?

NUBBINS!!!

Hi Everyone that is still around this pathetically neglected blog of mine. I am so sorry I've neglected you all by not posting anything here.

Life got pretty out of hand there for a while and it's currently showing no signs of stopping but I'll do my best to post at least once a week. Ok?

Life has tossed me into the abyss and I'm doing lots of fun things to keep from getting sucked in but some days, it's difficult. I won't go into the challenges, only the good stuffs though.

Good stuff number one: I'm finally learning how to play the piano and really truly read music. This is something so close to my heart, so deeply ingrained into my very being, that it is amazing to me that I've taken this long to do it. But here I am, and I am HAVING A BLAST!!! Granted, I can only play Mary Had a Little Lamb and other very simple songs using both hands, but I can PLAY and I'm learning fast.  Unfortunately, as a part of this, I've had to resort to nubbins. (Sad Face Goes Here.) They are, of course, polished, but they are, most definitely, nubbins. Once I'm done learning to play the "Piano" I can grow them out again and play the "Keyboard" without having to worry about the nails. For now, those weighted keys are hard to play correctly with the talons. I did try to go with short rounded, but even those were too long. (Another Sad Face Goes Here.)

On top of that, I am taking a song writing class. Haven't written anything yet, but I think it's due to all the STUFF going on in life right now. I had to re-commit to sitting down for 30 mins a day and just writing. whatever. comes. up. So far, just a bunch of whining and garbage, but I've done this part before, so I know the gem will show up. Hopefully more than one. And this time, I'll be able to write some accompaniment.

You've all seen this one before but it's gorgeous, even on my shorter, almond shaped nails. This is prior to the major chopping I did just last night before the mid-term exam. :)

Orly Space Cadet

Look at it! It's simply gorgeous. This is under incandescent lighting at night...this color is just amazing and it's in my top 5 of all time. Orly sure got this one right in my opinion. From the application to the wear, it was amazing.

Currently, I'm sporting Sally Hansen Xtreme Purple Gala and it's almost a kissing cousin to Space Cadet...but it's a dead-on dupe for Hard Candy's Mr. Wrong. (I finally got one of those a couple weekends ago so I've compared and it's true!)  Without further ado, I give you my NUBBINS!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Purple Gala

Also taken in incandescent light. Heh! My husband said this was subtle! Then he qualified that by adding, "to what you usually wear." heheheh Yeah, that's me, Mrs. Subtle. 

So, I'll be nubbinsy for a while, but I'll be around. Hope you enjoyed the post and I have a question for you all: If you could do ONE thing that you've always wanted to, but couldn't...and you were the prettiest princess in all the land, so there were absolutely NO LIMITATIONS on what you were able to do...what would you do? Please share! I'd love to read your comments.

Nubar Spark - the Office appropriate Prismatic/Holo

Like Ange-Marie (happy early Birthday woman!), I am a holo-whore. So I had to get the entire Nubar Prisms set when I got a killer discount and could afford to order it along with the Nubar Reds (which are also absolutely divine!)

I chose Nubar Spark to wear first because I had a big business event I had to attend and I was the person doing the checking in of all the business women. I thought this was a nice color to use for the event, understated but with some bling in the right light. It wasn't really noticed and that's pretty much what I was going for. Yeah, I saw a few eyes diverting to my nails, but no one said anything. Success!
Here is Nubar Spark in evening sunlight: (you can always click the pics for a bigger view)

In the shade with the flash from my cell phone:

Again in the evening sun/shade...almost my prism mannequin hand?

One more time!

For this mani, I used all Nubar products: 2 coats Foundation Base Coat, 2 coats polish and 1 coat Diamont Top Coat. This manicure wore so well, I was truly impressed. The Nubar products work very well together and gave me a mani that lasted a week and might have gone long had I been able to avoid boredom and need a new color to look at. You can get Nubar nail products at www.bynubar.com

I have to say, this isn't the most prismatic/holo nail polish I own, but it is a holo that is suitable for the office and for that the Lizard give it a rating of Toasty. I'll wear it again for work or when I need that understated bling that Nubar Spark is so good at delivering.

Iridescent Pink/Purple Comparison

I thought I would do duochrome purples next but I changed my mind. Those, aka "peacocks" will come later, since I already compared two of them before.

Today I will show you the Iridescent Pink/Purples that were in my stash:

They are: A no name Sephora mini, Sinful Let Me Go and Sally Girl It's So You. 

Here they are on the nail in the above order and in the shade (mostly 3 coats each):

And in full sunlight:

I'm keeping the Sephora mini. I suppose the Sinful would be pretty for layering, but I wanted the bottle color. Maybe it needs to be applied over a similar pink creme? Any suggestions? Oh it doesn't matter, it's already left the stash. :)

But to give you a bit more information on them: 

Sephora no name mini:  The brush was wide for a mini, but I liked the formula and it's got the best pigmentation. It had the pigmentation I WANTED the Sinful to have. Lizard rating: Balmy

Sinful Let Me Go: No problem there, you're gone! Hehehee!  This was a watery, bubbly 4 coat mess. It's really similar to the Sally Girl one, but even the Sally Girl had better pigmentation. Lizard rates this one Chilly...actually, how about Arctic. LOL

Sally Girl It's So You: Ok, you can have it then! (Just kidding)  The formula on this one was really nice, the brush is ok for a mini, actually, I am impressed by the brushes and handles on these little gals. :)  Lizard rating: Tepid. This one might be good for layering, but I'm done deluding myself with the idea of keeping minis in my stash to keep my stash small. This one goes too.

So I'm keeping only the Sephora Mini, it is the only one in the group that gets to bottle color. The other ones don't even come close. I have had the Sephora for a while now and have checked the display every time I go to Sephora and I never see it there anymore...so I apologize now for creating any lemmings that won't ever be fulfilled.  

I'm alive...just been focused on getting better

Thanks for checking on me, you ladies rock and I appreciate that you were checking on me.

My trip to Seattle to visit my son was really good. He's growing up fast being out on his own and far from home and it was actually just pleasant and fun to hang out with him and his roomie for a week. I made his favorite foods for dinner (with plenty of leftovers to come back to after I'd gone home.) We went shopping so I could show him how to feed himself for cheap for a month. Visited some cousins and connected him with family and friends I know up there. Drank some red wine with him and his roomie every evening and showed him how to make a cheap red wine taste pretty darned good!

First trip off the plane was a to Ulta so I could get what I needed to keep my nails in shape. (I carried baggage ON and you can't take flammable stuffs. So I picked up a bunch of polish that I left behind except for one. (more on that maybe in another post.) Do I have photos? No, my camera died and so I never thought about taking pictures until just about the last day there. That is when I took this picture:

It's a picture I took at Gas Works Park which is about 10 blocks south and 5 blocks west of where he lives.

Yeah, the weather pretty much sucked the whole time I was there. Took me over a week to get over my seasonal depression coupled with missing him...it was a rough week and a half. My poor husband. LOL

Just before I left, I spent a few days at Physical Therapy and got some exercises and stretches I could do on my trip. I got a little better while I was away too!  Since I've been home, I've been focused on doing my Physical Therapy exercises and making my appointments. It's paying off. Last night, for the first time in over a year, I slept all night without pain and without the aid of Ibuprofen or Naproxen, (Motrin or Aleve if you want brand names.) At PT yesterday, I was weeping tears of joy and pain at the same time...because, though there is still pain, I am releasing the fear around the pain and allowing my body to relax and get through it. There is a huge lesson in that for me and I believe that is why I am healing. Of course, the therapy is a big deal since it's stretching muscles that were so tight they weren't moving anymore and building muscles that had gone to sleep since the frozen muscles were doing all the work. I even rode my bike for 10 mins and it was WONDERFUL!!! I get to ride for 10 mins a day for a week and if all goes well, I can increase in 10 min increments over the weeks ahead. Soon, I'll be back to riding to work...ok, maybe not soon, but at least I have that to look forward to again...and riding on the weekends to downtown Santa Barbara and back. So. Much. Fun. I. Can't. Wait. (but I have to.)

So, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm crawling out of my hole...And I do have a couple photos of some past manis to share. First up is Cheeky Monkey Get Wet. What can I say, I love Cheeky Monkey. I love the colors, the names, the idea, the owner and goodness...the formula is to die for. I think this is from 4 days of wear too:

Taken in morning light with my new Droid phone. Not too shabby! And again, this is after 4 days of wear.

I got a swap package from Konadomania (More on that later too) and picked the Sh-E holographic polish. It was interesting...It was my holographic mannequin hand color. Kinda cool!

Hard to tell the whole mannequin hands thing, but in the shade it was pretty close. Then in the sun it was all, Wham! Pow! :) It's pretty! Thanks Ms. Konadomania!

On another note, I sent a request to Clarin's today using this link: Ask Clarins  to bring Clarins 230 back. I got a response saying they'd forward it to research and development. Let's all drop them a note to bring it back and maybe if they get enough requests they will? Let's at least try. What do you say ladies??? Who's with me??? :)

Claire's Mood Polish in Wild/Calm

Just a few words. I need all of these. That is all.

and see them in action, notice the index finger got warmer...

Need them all. Today please.

OPI Blushingham Palace

That is the color I wore for my wedding day. (you can see it in this pic, click it for larger size=HUGE)
This lovely lady with me is my mother-in-law and I adore her. She's the best mother-in-law in the world. I'm an orphan (since my early 30's) so she's the one I turn to for "motherly advice."  Nope, she's not MY mom, I'll never replace that special woman, but I'm so happy to have this one in my life. My mother would approve!

Miss Marion - The Frosts

Here we have the collection of Frosts I received from J. Pinon Cosmetics, the makers of Miss Marion Nail Polish.

The players from left to right front row first we have - Red Volcano, Confetti, Malva Rose, Garnet, Platinum Champagne and Brown Sugar.
I left Garnet and Platinum untried as I only have 5 fingers and you know I have to review Garnet by herself. :)

Here we have Red Volcano, a frosty red orange and very vibrant!

followed by Malva Rose a frost rosy pink

next up Confetti a super silvered rosy pink. Note: the tone of Malva Rose and Confetti is the same, the frost is much more intense in Confetti and lightens it up, makes it almost chrome-like.

and skipped Garnet to save her for a future post and went to the back row and chose Champagne. I imagine a platinum blonde rocking this color with a black gown. It's very frosty.

and for the thumb I used Brown Sugar, a gorgeous glimmering brown frost.

I know a lot of you are not fans of the frost, but I would urge you to give Miss Marion Frosts a chance. Some of them are brush stroke-y but many of them are just beautiful. Look at that brown! They appear a lot more like the best chrome polishes out there, just shiny metallic goodness adding to the pretty color.
I've always loved the Miss Marion Frosted polishes, they just know how to do a frost the right way....simply gorgeous.
What do you think?
Til next time!
~The Lizard

Trailer Trash

Cheeky Monkey Trailer Trash, that is. :)  As soon as I saw the post about Cheeky Monkey on the Vampy Varnish blog, I went to the website, fell for Trail Trash and sent an email via their contact form. I heard from Andrea just about instantly and having no pride, I asked for some freebies which, after a bit of chat, she agreed to send. I've already reviewed Social Climber and so here I have for you the lot I received. (check out my coolio jammies that I thought complimented the bottles so well! 

I've since worn them all and shown you a couple: Social Climber and Man Chaser, so here I bring you my chosen color: Trailer Trash. I love the name and thought the color would be a bit more on the lavender side according to the website so I will admit I was a little disappointed to find it was just a pink polish.

Then I put it on...and yes, it's another pink polish, but there's something not so "Barbie" about it that I really like. This is two coats of Wet Dream, Two self-leveling coats of Trailer Trash followed by 2 coats of I Like it on Top and then one coat of Seche because I need that to be able to sleep at night. :)

I do wish it were more lavender as it shows on the website, but I love the name and the formula is the most amazing formula I've ever encountered in all my years of nail polish. I'm enthralled by the Cheeky Monkey and a fan for life. I'll soon own them all but I think my first purchase will include No Bra, Pour Me One, Raunchy Bitch and Romp for starters.
The formula and pigmentation on these is amazing. By now, you all know I love this brand so I'll leave it at that and let you look at more pictures of the beautiful.

til next time
~The Lizard

Ladies and er...Ladies! I give you Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics' Social Climber!

Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics describes this color as a dark brown, but my description of  it would be more like this: it's the color of the dried blood found under your finger nails after a long day of climbing the social ladder. :) I hope they don't mind.   I love this color! It's the perfect purple brown, like milk chocolate but a shade darker. It's a creamy jelly (is that even possible?) that is opaque in two coats.

Upon the first application of this, I found it to be a bit too thick for me to apply. I added some thinner and it applied the way I like a polish to apply - it stayed where I put it without running all over the place and pooling. 

I used 1 coat of the Cheeky Monkey base coat, "Wet Dream" followed by three coats of "Social Climber" and one coat of Cheeky Monkey top coat, "I Like it on Top" to finish the manicure. I stayed up for another 4 hours, went to bed and woke up with sheet wrinkles. :(

I talked with Andrea about it and she let me know exactly how awesome this formula is. And so I tried again with fantastic results (which you see above, the first try was so bubbly and thick it was awful!) I started with 2 coats of Wet Dream, followed by two three-stroke coats of "Social Climber." I did, however, finish this mani off with Seche Vite because it was late and I wanted to sleep and know there would be no sheet marks.

What is amazing about Cheeky Monkey is how the formula works so much like Seche Vite. I over worked it the first time and got tons of bubbles. The second time, I used Andrea's tips and the polish did just what she promised it would, it self-leveled! Are you kidding me??? This stuff is amazing! Stays where I put it, levels and evens itself out and looks just as good on day three as it did the day I applied it. I wonder if I didn't really need to thin it at all...

Well, I had a bit of a learning curve, but I am a huge fan of Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics nail polish.

Next up: Trailer Trash!

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me by Cheeky Monkey for my consideration and honest review

Oscar night

I am a nail blogger failure.

I just sat through the entire Oscar show and never ONCE paid any attention to fingertips. I was in awe of the gowns and OMG did you see Sandra Bullock? I don't think I have EVER seen her look more glamorous. (OK, I admit it, I have a girl-crush on Sandy...happy now???)

China Glaze Something Sweet with a sprinkle of a Sally Beauty supply sparkle,

topped, of course, with Seche Vite

I really didn't see a gown I didn't absolutely love. Every woman had a gown that was perfect for her figure, her coloring and her age. I love the glamor of Oscar night! I get emotional for some speeches and some of the presentations. I cried a lot tonight. I ain't afraid to admit it!

I missed out on volunteering at our local film festival due to health issues - which I am still dealing with - and therefore missed out on actually seeing Sandra Bullock life and in person here in town. SAD PANDA...very very sad.

I just made my hubby swear that next year, he will drive me up to the red carpet on his motorcycle, drop me off to enjoy the show, and pick me up after (he has no interest). We'll stay at a local hotel and ride the bike home the next morning. All I heard on the radio today was how difficult parking was in Hollywood today, so the motorcycle solves that, (as well as the hubby's reason for heading to Hollywood!) So now, I just hope next year's movies are worthy of my attendance. LOL!!!

On a serious note: I will be glad to be there next year, but I do feel like I missed the dream by missing this year. The SBIFF and the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes..it's been an amazing year for my girl, and I missed seeing her enjoy the ride...well sort of.
Not being a "glass half empty" girl, I am thinking next year will be super fabulous and will work toward having long glorious nails painted meticulously in some fabulous design. So, who's going with me???

Have a shiny, sparkley and shimmery day!

Zoya Harley with a Konad Fail.

I swear I'm losing my Konadability. (Did I ever HAVE IT???)

*sigh*I could never get the middle finger straight...wonder what THAT means. ;) I used China Glaze Something Sweet. I suck at color mixing. I actually printed out a color wheel to help me out!

This next one is clickable, but it just get's blurrier. :( My son took one look at Harley and said it would go great with an old Eddie Bauer dress I have, and so I pulled it out and all I can say is I wish I had that talent. It was a perfect match for this faded lavender dress. I'm holding it here:

So, I failed again, the colors are pretty, but I gave up, removed the whole thing and did some swatches instead.

Harley grew on me, I'm keeping her afterall. But let's talk about Zoya polish for a minute. I am so not crazy about their formula. I have so many issues with application...but once it's on and dry, I have no complaints. This stuff wears really well. Of course I have no idea exactly HOW well since I change my polish more often than the average woman and you ALL know what I'm talkin' about here. How many of us, really...can talk about wear??? HAHAHA
The finish holds up though and it was gorgeous...and because of Harley, I purchased more Zoya and I'm looking forward to adding to my stash soon!

Fish Tail Nails?

Here's a VD Mani for you! I love the colors and they idea...the nail shape is er...interesting? Actually, I kinda like it for an artificial nail shape...I mean, they're artificial, why not shape them in fun ways? They don't look real anyway so have some fun with their shape. I think this is artistic and pretty darned coolio.

From Nailsmag.com blog 365 days of Nail Art

I would be a little afraid of scratching myself with them though...

Valentine's Day Manicure FAIL.

I am jumping on the Valentine's Day Manicure bandwagon. We don't do much for Valentine's Day, the Husband and I...we figure we need to be showing each other romantic thoughts all year long and not just saving it up for one hallmark holiday. :) Though I am not against a little something for the day. So we exchange cards and sweet sentiments and that is enough. Of course, if he wanted to give me a gift, I would certainly accept it! :D

This year though, he is off on a lone motorcycle ride clearing out the cobwebs of his mind while I enjoy some alone time at home - doing my nails, hanging out with my son, relaxing - So we'll share our cards later, when he gets home.

The manicure you see before you is already changed. I did say I was doing my nails while hubby is away! This is Essie Fishnet Stockings - an absolutely gorgeous, sexy, back to the 40's red. I love it. Picked this lovely up along with Berry Hard and a mini ridge filler at Ross a few weeks back. I then ATTEMPED to Konad heart tips using Konad #M73 and China Glaze Good Witch? and that was a horrible fail. So I grabbed a striper brush and did a messy angled line across to try to make it look fun...then used a dotting tool to put some dots on the thumbs...thought about other fingers...actually did a dot or two and decided against more... And so here I give you: Valentine's Day Fail #1!! The ONLY reason this stayed on for a couple days is because I loved the Essie color! Then I noticed some of my dog's hair in the topcoat...stuck in there til I removed the mani...so it had to go.




My dog has the softest fur...it's like cat fur...floaty, soft and gets into EVERYTHING. It's a good thing I love her, because she has such a sheddy attitude! Always making more fur, that one! But I'd rather she make fur than the alternative. :) HEHEHE, if you click on the bottom pic and look really carefully at my middle finger...you'll see that darned hair!

As I said, I've already changed it, and I took my time last night...relaxing and creating something pretty for today...and I just kept going and going and going until I created Fail #2!!! It's sparkly and fun, but a little overdone...however, the point was relaxation and that is what I did...I spent at LEAST 2 hours, just playing with polish and creating the fail...pictures in the next post.

I hope all of my readers enjoy a special moment today, whether you are single or attached, take some time to share some love with someone you care about today/tonight. And think of ways to keep doing that all year long.

Wishing you a colorful, sparkly and shiney day!

Barbie in pearls

Hey everyone! I actually have a manicure to post!!! I was going to do something Valentine'sy, but with the pain meds and all the hassle just to get BARBIE to cooperate, I gave up and just went with a fairly basic manicure.

I am not sure I like Zoya very much, but this is only the second one I've worn since taking advantage of the free greens special. Veruschka is lovely, and a sweetheart to put on, but Barbie...well, Barbie is a bitch! She went on gloopy, took forever to dry and then decided to give me hell when I put pearls on her! Borghese Patina Pearl to be concise. Topped them off with Seche Vite and allowed them to dry for HOURS before bedtime and yet still she's wrinkly. However, I did this Mani on Saturday...and it is now Wednesday night. So I am VERY impressed with the wear on this brand. Been pushing paper and ticking along on the keyboard all week!

I just took these photos with my phone camera because my laptop doesn't want to read my camera card. I hate it when technology doesn't work like it's supposed to. Anyway, these are the best I can do tonight so I apologize in advance for crappy photos. The color is true though, so that's a good thing.

Patina Pearl is a gorgeous color and I may one day try to wear her all by herself to see if she does well at 3 or 4 coats. Until then, she made Barbie feel Sexy and that's what I was going for.
Enjoy!

Until next time, wishing you color, glitter and gloss!

Opal tips

Back in the early part of December 2009, I got my first Nfu Oh. I really wanted #51 but it was not available. I searched and searched on Fabulous Street for something that would hold me over. I found it in #49. I love opals, all kinds, and I'm lucky to have a friend who buys rough stone and grinds it into lovely gems for me to buy. :) I shared these pictures with him and he agreed my tips were quite opal like, but of course he wants to see this color over black. I've seen Nfu Oh's over black so many times, I wanted to try something different.

I decided to put it over Essie Waltz, a soft, creamy white. I love Essie's formula, it stays where I put it and has this wonderful flow about it. Waltz was so pretty, so squishy and marshmallow-y after it dried. I almost didn't want to put anything on top of it, but I was on a quest, so I did.

I present to you: Opals on my fingertips. This was truly like having glittering opals to look at all day long..I couldn't keep my eyes off of my fingers.

Blurry shot for flakie wonderment. :)

Has anyone else layers their Nfu Oh's over white? or maybe some other light colors? Point me to your photos!